MPBAGS Chapter 36

"When Lady Rohanson finishes her prayers, guide her to the knights' reception room. Uriel is with her."

On the way, he also told a knight to escort Lady Evangeline to the knights' reception room.

The Pharalos Knights belonged to the temple, so their building was built separately right next to the grand temple. Though its grandeur couldn't compare to the grand temple, Henna had expected it to be splendid, but surprisingly, the building was simple.

"Ah. That's it."

The closer they got to the knights' office, the more Henna imagined the worst-case scenario that might unfold.

While Gabriel might be pleased that a clue about the case had emerged, Henna felt the opposite—extremely anxious. The witnesses to Donau's death at the time were Henna and Kanna, but another witness had appeared? Since the painting was the problem, was it a witness from the artist's side? But did they even need a witness?

And someone who had been at the monastery, no less. Hena became anxious, unable to understand what this witness Gabriel mentioned had supposedly witnessed.

'Surely they didn't see the young lady killing Donau. The door was wide open then, so they might have heard the commotion...'

And like a death sentence being pronounced, the office door opened.

Inside sat three knights including Raphaela, whom they had just seen, and a person in monastery robes presumed to be the informant. And that person was so familiar that Henna unconsciously blurted out the name.

"Daisy?"

Daisy, who was rumored to have gone blind and been sent away to a monastery like discarded goods, looked at Henna with a noticeably gaunt appearance.

"Henna. Why are you here?"

"That's what I should ask. They said you went blind..."

Daisy was rumored to have gone blind and been sent to a monastery. That's why Henna had been so frightened when she first took Daisy's replacement position. Henna had half-suspected that Daisy was already dead and the young lady had spread such rumors for cleanup.

But looking at her now, Daisy wasn't blind, nor did she appear seriously injured.

So Daisy was the witness? Henna's head throbbed painfully at this unexpected situation. If it had been someone else, she could have dismissed it as a mistake. But Daisy had been a close maid serving the young lady until just recently.

The people of the Rohanson estate don't easily talk due to the money the butler provides and the constant presence of Lady Evangeline. But if it was Daisy, who had already quit her job? She would reveal everything, starting with the dead young lady coming back to life.

That wouldn't do. If the temple side learned the whole truth and tried to eliminate the young lady? It wasn't that she was worried about harm coming to the young lady. She was only afraid of what would happen after the role of Evangeline Rohanson, which was currently restraining the young lady, became useless.

What should she do about this? She needed to silence Daisy.

"Did you quit working at the estate?"

When Henna shook her head, Daisy's complexion turned pale.

"Quit as soon as possible. Wait, wait. That thing on her neck... Henna, who is she?"

Daisy pointed at Kanna.

"My sister."

Neck? Daisy was looking at Kanna's neck. There was a red line drawn on Kanna's neck. It was something Donau had made in the past, and since Kanna had refused to be treated with holy water, it was left as it was.

Daisy covered her mouth as if she was going to vomit at the sight of that neck.

"Your sister?"

Henna nodded at Daisy's question.

"Does your sister... work at the estate too?"

"Yes."

The more Henna answered, the paler Daisy's face became. The hand covering her mouth and her pupils were trembling endlessly.

That line drawn on the neck was definitely a trace of the demon Daisy had summoned. The demon had the disgusting hobby of cutting people's necks to kill them and then reattaching them. If not for the thin line on the neck, you couldn't tell if that person was dead.

The demon had asked to be guided to the Rohanson estate, and Daisy had followed its request. The demon had successfully entered the Rohanson estate and harmed the people there.

On one hand, she had expected this, but when the actual victim appeared before Daisy, the shock was great. Especially since the victim was the blood relative of a colleague she had known, the guilt was even stronger.

"What have I, what have I done..."

When the shocked Daisy staggered, a nearby knight hurried to support her, but Daisy sharply swatted his hand away. Then she looked at the knight she had pushed away with terror-stricken eyes and backed away.

It seemed like those knights might suddenly turn and strike Daisy's neck at any moment. Since she had summoned a demon and even killed Priest Berga, Daisy wasn't without fault either.

"I, I should go now."

"What? What do you mean?"

Daisy had come to the temple to confirm the painting that Priest Berga had reportedly seen. She had confirmed the ominous magical circle in the painting and had decided to testify with the intention of having it disposed of.

Of course, she hadn't intended to confess everything she had done, so the testimony was just made plausible by mixing in lies.

"What I just told you is everything. Isn't that testimony sufficient?"

When Gabriel looked around as if asking if that was right, the knight nodded. Gabriel, who had received the paper with Daisy's testimony neatly organized, skimmed through the contents.

It was about Priest Berga of the monastery summoning a demon through that summoning circle. Several evil deeds that Priest Berga had committed while bewitched by the demon were also written. There was also a story that evidence would be found if they searched the priest's room.

Turning to the next page, there was content about Evangeline Rohanson. From their conversation, it seemed she had originally worked at the Rohanson estate, and this seemed to be her eyewitness account from that time.

Gabriel glanced at Henna and Kanna and quietly flipped the paper face down. Then he could understand why Daisy was so anxious. It was natural for her to be frightened after meeting people from the Rohanson estate again.

"This has been quite helpful. I'll investigate the rest myself."

When Gabriel gave permission to leave, Daisy felt relieved. Since Priest Berga was already dead, she felt no guilt about pinning the blame on him. The evil deeds she had testified about were things Priest Berga had actually done, and in fact, it was Priest Berga who had drawn that summoning circle.

Daisy's purpose was only to get the ominous painting hanging in the temple taken down, so this was sufficient to fulfill her role.

"Raphaela, escort her outside the temple."

Daisy realized that refusing even this would seem truly suspicious and quietly nodded.

As Daisy passed by Henna, she whispered very quietly. It was such a secret whisper that even Kanna, who was next to Henna, couldn't hear it.

"Henna. That's not your sister."

She couldn't explain the entire situation. There were knights right next to them, and she was afraid of hearing resentment from Henna saying it was her fault her sister died. So that was the best Daisy could do.

Daisy looked at Henna's dead sister and the sphere floating next to her. She hadn't expected to see that thing again outside the estate... The only fortunate thing was that it wasn't as frightening as when she had seen it before.

Perhaps because they were inside the grand temple, it seemed unable to exert its full power. Fortunately, from what Daisy had experienced, that eye couldn't hear sounds. It probably hadn't heard what Daisy had just said to Henna.

Daisy hurried out of the reception room, afraid of making eye contact.

Watching Daisy's retreating figure as she left the room with the knight's escort, Henna quietly gripped her sister's hand tightly.

"Sister. What did that person just say?"

"Nothing."

Whatever Daisy had said, Kanna was still Henna's one and only sister. Even when she had been filled with joy at seeing the dead Donau, even when she had called that monstrous painting beautiful, no matter how broken Kanna was or what she thought, to Henna she was just a beloved sister. Right. That must be right?

"Did you finish your prayers well?"

Yes. I had an absolutely fantastic nap. But I couldn't possibly tell a holy knight that I had fallen asleep during prayer time, so I just awkwardly nodded my head.

The prayer room that Uriel guided me to was a private room that nobles frequently used, and since the main clientele were wealthy, the interior was incredibly luxurious. I thought it would look like some kind of solitary cell, but it was completely different. It was very cozy and nice.

Sunlight poured in through the large windows, and I could hear organ music from somewhere unknown. When I closed my eyes and pretended to pray, I gradually became drowsy and sleep poured over me.

Even in my dreams, I didn't see God. What's this about having conversations with God as a transmigrator's privilege? They gave me the language patch later and the transmigration timing was quite late, so there's no way they'd give me such special treatment. I guess I was being too optimistic.

"Did you wait long?"

"Not at all. There are believers who pray for several hours."

I was worried that I had slept for too long, but fortunately it seems not much time had passed. It would be nice if there were clocks hanging in the temple, but of course there were no clocks in the prayer room either. It's inconvenient not having a mobile phone. I should carry a pocket watch or something.

"Ah, the Captain is waiting at the Knights' Order. Your companions who came with you are also there. I'll escort you there."

Henna and Kanna must have finished looking at the paintings already. Did they wait for me instead of going back to the mansion first? Is this what friendship is...? My heart feels warm. I slapped the drowsy Jelly awake. Come to think of it, he was waiting with me too, so why is he so annoying?